More from Jumeira

Went to the beach again this afternoon. Got this shot by luck as I was trying to click a flight sequence.

Click HERE to see the gif animation of the same bird.

They were out in large nos. today, though the beach was full of people.

Saw one solitary Western Reef Egret fly high above the gulls and all the ruckus they were creating at the beach.

The House Sparrow is quiet commonly found in most parts of Dubai.

This last one from the beach today.

This Bulbul species was introduced from India but now is found abundantly here. There is a strong breeding population here in Dubai. They can be commonly found in most of the parks and gardens.

Click HERE to see another gif animation, this time of this fellow.

Found this fellow in the garden today.

Spend almost an hour trying to get this fellow with an open crest. But no luck yet.

Birding in Hatta

Went for a few hours of birding yesterday in the beautiful mountains 120kms. south-east of Dubai at HATTA.

Besides the Mountains Hatta also offers other extremely interesting Birding Habitats like the Wadis*. Though the rains played spoil-sport to my birding plans I still managed a few Lifers and some more familiar birds.

Highlights of the day where -

• Yellow Vented Bulbul
• Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse
• Pale Crag Martin
• and an unided Wheatear (Pied/Mourning/Hooded)
  

*Wadi (Arabic وادي, pronounced "waadee") is a dry riverbed that contains water only during times of heavy rain.

And a LIFER after many months. This guy is commonly called 'Yellow-Vented Bulbul' here, but this same name is used in different countries for different Bulbuls so I'll mention its latin name - Pycnonotus xanthopygos


Check some cool snaps of this species on this link - http://www.birdsoman.com/YellowventedBulbul.htm

Found these two Indians having a nice conversation in the garden of the Hatta Fort Hotel.

Oopss... I think I shouldn't have said that.

The Grey Wagtail loves to spend this time of the year near perennial streams in the Mountain Wadis.

Here's one more pic of the same individual.

Here's some snaps to give a general idea of how the "Wadi Landscape" of the Mountainous areas looks like.

Last but not the least a Purple Sunbird.

When I saw him come and sit next to me I realised how much I really miss Birding in India.

Larking outside Safa

Look who I found today - Crested Lark - outside the Safa Park in Dubai.

Safa Park in Dubai is the most extensively bird watched area in the city with a very impressive birdcount of over 230 species. Though the ever increasing amount of construction work in Dubai and especially near this park must be having adverse effects on the birds that used to frequent this beautiful 70 hectare public park.

And here's one more pic of this fellow.

Back to Birding

Back to Birding after a long while and got a dream shot of the Black-Headed Gull with the famous Burj-Al-Arab hotel in the background.

Here's one more of the Black-headed gulls. There were 100s of these guys at the Beach today.

These guys are quiet common in this season here in Dubai, in public parks and in private gardens.